When we first met SpiderMan in Amazing Fantasy #15, he only agreed to be plain Peter Parker, an unpopular high school student. He was lonely and much more considering books than saving anything or anyone. However, because of the timely interference of a radioactive spider, Peter Parker gains the agility and strength of the spider. Equipped with this newfound power, Peter Parker sews himself a red body suit (thank goodness for home economics), constructs a crude webbing device, and joins the professional wrestling circuit to create some funds. Alas, Peter Parker is much more into making money with his innovative skills that helping anyone. While he lets some thieves escape, they end up killing his uncle, setting the stage for your guilt that will drive SpiderMan with the rest of his career.

The comics

SpiderMan was written to be a one-time affair. His appearance in Amazing Fantasy, however, resurrected sagging sale, in fact, SpiderMan turned out to be among Marvel's most profitable superheroes. Far from as being a one-time affair, he is able to now be found in a never-ending selection of comic books series, from The Amazing Spider-Man, to Spectacular SpiderMan, Sensational SpiderMan, and also Ultimate SpiderMan (never to be confused, needless to say, with Spider-Man Unlimited).

The franchise

Spider Man is a lot more than comics. His popularity has led Marvel to produce a media franchise for Spider Man, together with his story appearing in television cartoons, game titles, as well as movies. The recent movies to focus on SpiderMan star Tobey Maguire as our favorite superhero and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson. The initial movie, released in 2002, concentrates on the start of SpiderMan's career, using a genetically modified spider utilizing the host to the initial radioactive spider. Together with his newfound powers, he finds himself in person with all the Green Goblin, played by Willem Dafoe. Propelled through the success from the first movie, SpiderMan returned in 2004 in SpiderMan 2 to manage off against Doctor Octopus, a multi-tentacled experiment gone wrong. SpiderMan 3 is scheduled for release in 2007. This time around he could be set to handle his biggest enemy yet, himself in the black venom alien suit.

Building your SpiderMan comic strip collection

While SpiderMan continues to be successful from comic books, to truly enjoy him, to truly be described as a fan, you must return to the comics. This is often difficult, however; finding all of SpiderMan's comics would be a Herculean task. If you wish to locate older copies of Spider-Man comics, be sure to check popular online auction sites. However, you ought to be ready to buy the pleasure of owning an early SpiderMan comic: SpiderMan is not only for kids anymore. Early editions from the Amazing SpiderMan can go for lots of money! However, you may be able to get by with slightly later versions with the Amazing SpiderMan, which only get a few hundred bucks.